Day 63: If the Rules Aren’t Consistent, Are They Really Rules?
It's Day 63, and this morning while continuing my study of the Nextdoor app, I found another example that has me questioning its moderation model.
A neighbor posted:
“Not to get political, but I keep hearing about this runoff happening next week and I am so torn on the candidates. Does anyone have any thoughts?”
Whenever something begins with “Not to get political…”, we can probably guess where it's headed.
Politics.
And that's exactly what happened.
Neighbors discussed candidates, political parties, voting choices, and opinions. Some users even pointed out:
“We can't talk politics on this site.”
Another wrote:
“Not the place for politics. PLEASE STOP.”
Yet, approximately nine hours after the original post, it was still there.
Here's my moderation question.
Nextdoor permits certain local political discussions, but restricts broader national politics.
This discussion involves a U.S. Senate seat. South Carolina voters elect the senator statewide, but that person then goes to Washington to vote on national legislation and policy.
So where's the line?
Is a U.S. Senate race local because the candidates campaign within South Carolina?
Or national because the winner becomes one of 100 U.S. senators?
More importantly:
Do Nextdoor's moderators agree on the answer?
That's the larger issue I've been documenting.
A moderation system is only as effective as its consistency, training, quality assurance, and enforcement.
If Moderator A removes something while Moderator B leaves essentially the same content up for nine hours—or indefinitely—the policy isn't producing consistent outcomes.
That's not merely a neighbor problem.
That's a process problem.
And when moderation relies heavily on unpaid neighbors making judgment calls about other neighbors, quality control becomes incredibly important.
I've said it before:
We inspect what we expect.
So who's inspecting the moderators?
Who's measuring agreement between them?
Who's auditing incorrect removals—and incorrect decisions to leave content up?
What are the accuracy metrics?
These aren't rhetorical questions. I'd like to see the data.
I've been asking questions about Nextdoor's research, moderation, communication, and accountability for 63 days.
Maybe this post complies with Nextdoor's rules. If so, explain why.
Maybe it doesn't. If so, why was it still there nine hours later?
Either answer would be useful.
What isn't useful is having policies whose enforcement appears unpredictable depending on the moderator, neighborhood, or day.
Day 63. Another post. Another moderation question.
And somehow, still no Jacob Chavis.
Join the discussion at NielFlamm.com/blog. Leave some feedback—I'd love to hear your perspective.
The Stories We Need... and the Stories We Keep Getting
Let's agree these are great things.
🐾 Lost pets reunited with their families.
💍 Returning a treasured heirloom, wedding ring, or keepsake.
❤️ Checking on a neighbor after a loss, illness, or surgery.
🍔 Discovering a hidden local restaurant or coffee shop.
🏃 Neighbors exercising together.
👥 Clubs and groups bringing people together.
🛍️ Supporting local small businesses.
🎃 Reminding people to stay safe during holidays.
⛈️ Preparing for severe weather.
We also know:
Loud neighbors at 2 a.m. aren't considerate.
Cancer and other life-altering diseases are heartbreaking.
Kindness matters.
I could keep going.
So what's my point?
It's not that these stories aren't important.
They absolutely are.
My concern is that they're the same kinds of stories I repeatedly see promoted on LinkedIn, X, and the Nextdoor blog.
Feel-good stories have their place.
But I'd also like to see some journalism about the platform itself.
I want to read about:
How the unpaid moderator program actually works.
Interviews with moderators about their experiences.
How appeals are reviewed.
What quality assurance exists.
How moderation consistency is measured.
What metrics leadership uses to determine whether the current model is succeeding.
Those stories would help users, advertisers, and shareholders better understand the platform.
Those are conversations worth having.
Then, after we've explored how the platform works behind the scenes...
Let's absolutely celebrate the dogs finding homes, neighbors helping neighbors, and hidden gems around town.
There's room for both.
Join the discussion at NielFlamm.com/blog. Leave some feedback—I'd love to hear from you.
Is Nextdoor Pricing Out the Very Businesses That Built It?
I've been writing a lot about communication, moderation, and corporate culture at Nextdoor.
Today, I want to talk about small businesses.
The attached screenshots show a local business owner frustrated after learning that responding to neighborhood requests now requires an additional paid option—reportedly more than $300 per month—on top of maintaining a business presence on the platform.
For many cleaners, landscapers, painters, handymen, and other neighborhood businesses, that's a significant monthly expense.
And it comes with no guarantee of winning the work.
That raises an important question.
Is Nextdoor pricing out the very local businesses that helped make the platform valuable?
It also makes me wonder:
Does this also apply to restaurants, contractors, or other businesses that receive feedback? If someone leaves a review or asks a question, can the business publicly respond without paying the additional fee?
If not, how does that strengthen community?
For full transparency, I don't have a Nextdoor business account, and I won't be purchasing one as part of my experiment.
As a shareholder, I'm not interested in making another investment in a company that doesn't currently pay a dividend on my existing one.
What concerns me is the impact on local businesses operating in already saturated markets.
One commenter summed it up:
"Guess it's time to go back to Facebook."
That caught my attention.
Nextdoor grew by connecting neighbors with local businesses. If those businesses conclude the return on investment no longer makes sense, they'll naturally spend their advertising dollars elsewhere.
As a shareholder, I want Nextdoor to grow.
But growth should create value for both shareholders and the businesses paying the bills.
If the screenshots accurately reflect how this feature works, could you help me understand how CEO Nirav Tolia could approve a model like this while continuing to emphasize "community"? To me, community means removing barriers between neighbors and local businesses—not creating new ones.
Would you be willing to pay $300+ per month to respond to neighborhood requests?
Join the discussion at NielFlamm.com/blog. Leave some feedback—I'd love to hear from you.
Day 46: Welcome to the Nextdoor Weekend
It's 6:00 a.m. EDT on a Thursday.
Like many Thursday mornings, I was up early checking my fraternity's lottery pool tickets.
Spoiler alert...
We didn't win millions.
I know. Shocking.
The odds continue to be very disrespectful toward our group.
After posting the results and setting up the next pool on Discord, I had another thought.
I said to myself...
"Self, let's see if anyone from Nextdoor finally sent an email."
So I checked.
And...
Nope.
If you've been following this journey, you already know the story.
If you haven't, you can catch up at NielFlamm.com/blog.
Today isn't about rehashing the timeline.
It's about what Day 46 represents.
Forty-six days without receiving the study I requested.
Forty-six days without a response from Jacob Chavis.
Forty-six days of documenting my experience and asking questions about communication, moderation, and corporate culture.
Today is Thursday.
For many people, it's Friday Eve.
I've always called it "Pre-Friday."
But in the world of Nextdoor...
It also feels like the beginning of the weekend.
Because when you've gone 46 days without a reply, one more business day probably isn't changing the outcome.
That doesn't mean I'll stop asking.
Communication shouldn't take weekends off.
Neither should accountability.
I'll keep hope that one day, someone at Nextdoor decides the conversation is worth having.
Join the discussion at NielFlamm.com/blog. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Day 45: Community or Rhetoric?
Today I have three thoughts. Buckle up.
1. Community Isn't Just Something You Say
Nirav Tolia recently shared another clip from his conversation with David Begnaud.
🎥 Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GtufEetKuE
Around 40 seconds into the video, Nirav talks about community.
That got me thinking.
A quick Google search defines community as:
"People care about each other and feel like they belong."
Another definition reads:
"An online space where people connect through the internet to share ideas."
Those are great definitions.
But community isn't just something we talk about.
It's something we demonstrate.
How is Nextdoor demonstrating community when users can't provide meaningful feedback on the platform itself, when questions continue to be raised about a moderation model that frustrates many users, and when a straightforward email requesting a study goes unanswered?
That brings me to...
2. Day 45
Today marks Day 45 since I asked Jacob Chavis for a study.
Forty-five days.
No study.
No acknowledgment.
No response.
I've posted every day because, to me, marketing videos don't measure communication and community—they're measured by how people are treated when they ask respectful questions.
3. Consistency Works Both Ways
Today, Nextdoor Communications shared this blog post:
📖 Small Moments, Big Ripples: Neighbor Stories from Nextdoor
https://blog.nextdoor.com/small-moments-big-ripples-neighbor-stories-from-nextdoor-1
The theme?
Consistency.
That word caught my attention.
I've also been consistent.
Over the past 45 days, I've documented what I believe is a lack of communication, a lack of meaningful engagement, and concerns about how community is being practiced versus how it's being described.
Consistency isn't only about publishing positive stories.
It's also about responding consistently when someone reaches out in good faith.
Finally, a quick note for fellow shareholders.
The stock is up marginally today, but my outlook remains bearish heading into earnings.
If the next report shows another loss—even if it's smaller—no dividend, and the same messaging without meaningful operational change, the market will likely react negatively.
Time will tell.
Join the discussion at NielFlamm.com/blog. I'd love to hear your perspective.